Water Hyacinth is a plant that takes root in waterways the world over, causing destruction to aquatic and plant eco-systems. For communities that rely on their waterways for food, livelihoods, and transportation water hyacinth blocks access to the water essential to their survival. In Nigeria, a local social enterprise, MitiMeth, is harvesting water hyacinth and turning it into functional handcrafted products, and empowering members of the local community.

Reform Studio is an Egyptian based furniture and product design studio that I first featured on Atelier Fifty Five a couple of years ago. The company founded by Hend Riad and Mariam Hazem focuses on sustainable design, using materials such as discarded plastic and cotton threads to create Plastex, their durable, eco-friendly material. The award-winning studio now introduces Torero a collection of eco-fashion satchels made out of the company’s signature fabric and crafted by the skillful hands of two craftsmen and two housewives. Torero is all about style with a purpose.

Khokho is a luxury line of basket bags handwoven in Swaziland. The brand is the result of a collaboration between Philippa Thorne, Creative Director of Gone Rural and Sapna Shah, a handbag designer who was looking for a new challenge focusing on artisan crafts and smaller production.

LONDRÉ TAN is a luxury South African brand of fashion accessories that caters to the modern woman. Based in Johannesburg the brand was launched in 2014 by Lilian Muhammed, a fashion industry entrepreneur. Style, exceptional craftsmanship and luxury epitomizes Londré Tan’s collections which include handbags, belts, and jewellery. Named after a major South African city, each design pays homage to the diversity, rich culture and beauty of the country.

Abury is an ethical luxury fashion accessories brand whose ethos is one of combining old world traditions with cutting edge design to create a new style, one of timeless and authentic luxury. Abury is a response to mass production, inviting people to appreciate the beauty that is around them, to form emotional connections to the products they buy and to take the time to recognise the meaning of of true luxury that comes with tradition, time and care in production. Heritage, knowledge and wisdom are turned into timeless high quality products, that include bags, personal accessories and footwear for people to treasure.

Luxury South African accessories brand Okapi, celebrated the launch of its first shop in London with a stylish summer soiree. Name after the elusive antelope, Okapi, was founded in 2008 by South African painter Hanneli Rupert and offers a stylish array of luxury artisanal handbags and accessories.

Made in Africa Luxury accessories label, A A K S was founded in 2014 by colour-obsessed designer, Akosua Afriyie-Kumi, whose passion for all things bright led to the creation of a chic range of handbags handcrafted in Bolgatanga, a region in northern Ghana famed for its longstanding basket weaving traditions. Through A A K S Akosua intended to capture the spirit and durability of this heritage, showcasing the hand weaving techniques to a global audience and in the process help support the artisans and communities the company works with by creating local jobs. A A K S works closely with groups of local artisan weavers who skillfully weave colourful piles of raffia into the stylish products that combine modern style interpretations with traditional methods.

Spotted on the online African fashion store My Asho a limited edition collection of colourful patchwork clutches, just in time for spring. Handcrafted by the Nigerian accessories label Gidan Nodza, a myriad of mismatched printed and hand dyed fabric or leather patches are combined to form the bags. All styles are fully lined and a zip closure completes the look. Head designer Amina Adefala scours local markets for the leather, and the fabric is printed locally produced using traditional techniques like resist dyeing. The patchwork nature of the designs means each bag produced is unique. The patchwork collection extends to totes and belts.

Last year in March, I introduced Fulani HB luxury handbags and accessory line based in the US which utilises beautifully woven traditional Senegalese fabrics. I recently caught with the designer, Souadou Barry to chat about her latest Autumn/Winter collection, gaining an insight into her inspirations, processes, and the woman she designs for.

From a factory based on the outskirts of Karen, in Kenya, high-quality leather, suede and canvas materials are expertly crafted into a range of stylish personal and travel East African leather products. The factory is the home of Rift Valley Leather, a local company that through its products, actively works to promote local handcrafting skills; and takes care to utilise materials, like camel and calf hides, that have been sourced exclusively in the East African region.